quondam

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin quondam. Compare whilom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkwɒndəm/
• Rhymes: -ɒndəm

Adjective

quondam (not comparable)

1. (formal) Former; once; at one time.

   Synonyms: erstwhile; see also Thesaurus:former

   • c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 158, column 1:

     This is the quondam King; Let's ſeize vpon him.

   • 1789, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to James Madison, 28 March, in The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections 1788–1790, vol. 1, ed. Merrill Jensen and Robert A. Becker, University of Wisconsin Press, 1976, page 217:

     Present him if you please in my name to [John] Henry, [William] Grayson and all our quondam acquaintances and be assured that any civilities he receives from you will be gratefully remembered by me.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence.

   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, chapter 8, in The Whisperer in Darkness:

     For the sleeper on the couch was not Akeley at all, but my quondam guide Noyes.

   • 2020 September 1, A. O. Scott, “‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’ Review: Where to Begin?”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     A few hundred pages after faintly praising me […] the book’s narrator (a quondam critic with nothing nice to say about Charlie Kaufman) challenges me to a barroom argument about cinema.

Derived terms

• quondamly
• quondamship

Translations

former

• Bulgarian: бивш (bg) (bivš), някогашен (bg) (njakogašen)
• Georgian: ყოფილი (q̇opili)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forhenværende (no), tidligere (no)

• Russian: бы́вший (ru) m (bývšij)
• Spanish: otrora (es), antaño (es), antiguo (es) m

Further reading

• “quondam”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Latin

Etymology

From cum (“when”) (older quom) + -dam (“demonstrative ending”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkʷon.dam/, [ˈkʷɔn̪d̪ä̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈkwon.dam/, [ˈkwɔn̪d̪äm]

Adverb

quondam (not comparable)

1. at a certain time, at one time, once, heretofore, formerly
2. sometimes

Synonyms

• (once): ōlim

See also

Latin correlatives ^(edit)

type	demonstrative			anaphoric	identity	interrogative/ relative	indefinite					negative	other
	proximal	medial	distal				relative	indefinite	universal	free choice	negative polarity
basic	hic	iste, istic	ille, illic	is	ipse, īdem	quis/quī	quisquis, quīcumque	quis, quī, quīdam, aliquis, aliquī, quispiam	quisque	quīvis, quīlibet	quisquam, ūllus, °aliquisquam	nēmō, nihil, nūllus	alius
dual						uter	utercumque	alteruter	uterque	utervīs, uterlibet		neuter	alter
place	hīc	istīc	illīc	ibī̆	ibī̆dem	ubī̆	ubiubi, ubī̆cumque	alicubī, uspiam	ubīque	ubivīs, ubilibet	usquam	nusquam, nūllibī	alibī, aliās
source	hinc	istinc	illinc	inde	indidem	unde	undecumque, undeunde	alicunde	undique	°undelibet			aliunde
destination	hūc, °hōrsum	istūc, °istōrsum	illūc, °illōrsum	eō	eōdem	quō, quōrsum	quōquō, quōcumque	aliquō, quōpiam, °aliquōvorsum		quōvīs, quōlibet	quōquam	nusquam, nūllōrsum	aliō, aliōrsum
method, means, path, place	hāc	istāc	illāc	eā	eādem	quā	quāquā, quācumque	aliquā	quāque	quāvīs, quālibet		nēquāquam, haudquāquam	aliā
manner	hōc modō	istō modō	illō modō	ita, sīc, eō modō	item, itidem	ut, quī, quō modō, quōmodo, quemadmodum	utut, utcumque, quōmodocumque	quī, quōdam modō, aliquō modō	utique	quōmodolibet	ūllō modō	nūllō modō	aliter, aliōquī, alterō/aliō modō
time	num, nunc		ōlim	tum, tunc	simul	quandō, ‡cum	cumque, quandōcumque, quandōque	quondam, aliquandō	quandōque	quandōlibet	umquam	numquam	aliās
quantity				tam	†tamen, †tandem	quam	†quamquam	aliquam		quamvīs, quamlibet
size				tantus	tantusdem	quantus	quantuscumque	aliquantus		quantusvīs, quantuslibet
quality				tālis		quālis	quālis, quāliscumque	aliquālis		quālislibet
number				tot	totidem	quot	quotquot, quotcumque	aliquot		quotlibet
order				totus		quotus	quotuscumque	aliquotus		quotuslibet
repetition				totiēns		quotiēns	quotiēnscumque	aliquotiēns		quotiēnslibet
multiplication				totuplex		quotuplex
† Turned conjunction with original meaning somewhat dissimulated ° Rare ‡only used as a conjunction, not as an interrogative

References

• “quondam”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “quondam”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• quondam in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• quondam in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.